After our Spanish Civil War tour, we spent some sun filled days in Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Here's what we did...
Wandered through Plaza Mayor
And took pictures of ourselves (apparently parents want those)
Toured the Gran Via and saw the old movie houses
And what we claim to be the predecessor to the Hard Rock Cafe
Tried to get into the public toilets (it wouldn't take his money)
and enjoyed Chocolate with Churros. The Churros are the long doughnut type things. The chocolate, while served hot, is not Hot Chocolate, but unsweetened chocolate in a mug. You dip the churros into the chocolate.
Madrid's symbol, the bear and the tree
we watched flamenco dancing in Plaza del Sol
We also took a day trip to Toldeo to see the cathedral. This is all we could take a picture of, since the $14 you spend to get in is somehow not enough to let you take a picture inside (or enough for them to write anything in English!!)
we wondered about the 'canadian'ness of the cheese. Are we really known for our cheese???
A bridge in Toledo
and Toldeo's Alcazar (fortress), which is closed to the public, but will one day become the region's Army Museum.
We stood in line to get into the Prado (art) Museum for free
and enjoyed the modern art in the Reina Sofia...
where Picasso's Guernica is on display.
We found black swans??? in the Park Retiro after getting some sun
We saw the crystal palace
and a ton of people rowing their way around a lake (a Canadian pond)
We also took in the Spanish tradition that is a bull fight. NOTE: it's not a pretty thing...the bulls die!
The crowds poured in on Sunday to watch the weekly bull fight at Madrid's Las Ventas Bull ring.
You can get seats in the sun or the shade. the sun is cheaper, so it's packed (and it's where we got our seats). Note how close we are to the people behind us. The woman in front of me was literally between my legs.
The show starts with all the participants coming across the ring to salute the box set aside for the king/diplomat present.
A sign announces the bull/matador that will fight (no English explanations, leaves much to ponder)
The bull is released and the matadors friends use their pink capes to test the bull and see which side it favours and how agressive it is.
Then a man on a horse (poor horse) comes out to stab the bull. The whole point is for these people to stab the neck muscles of the bull so that his head hangs low and he's lost blood, and therefore is not as rowdy when the matador comes out--fair? not really.
Until 1930 the horses did not have any protection and more horses died than bulls. Now the horse wears a long thick blanket around his body.
Then 2 guys come out and stick ruffled needles into the bull's neck. They want to get as close to the horse-man's wound as possible.
The needles are hooked, so that they don't fall out.
then after the bull has been sufficiently wounded, the matador comes out with his red cape and shows his skill. When the bull goes beneath his cape it is an Ole. He also shows off by getting as close to the bull as he can, and by turning his back on the bull to show his mastery of the 'beast'.
The first bull we saw was a fighter. In fact, he fought his horn right through the left thigh of the matador. The crowd gasped, while the matador was flung and tramped.
His buddies came out to rescue him and carry him off, but this matador was pissed. From the nosebleed section that was our seating, we heard a loud grunt, as he threw off his amigos and stormed back into the ring, getting a new cape...and the new sword...the sword of death.
note the turniquet on his leg
After killing the bull, the crowd waved white hankies to recognize the injury sustained by the matador.
the men in green were left to clean up the mess after the bull is dragged (literally) out of the ring.
The next bull actually knocked the horse riding stabber off of his horse. This bull did not fair well though, because the horse riding stabber got his revenge, and the bull was no longer able to charge and remain on his front feet. Because it wouldn't be a fair fight, cows were let into the ring to help herd the bull out. He didn't die in the ring, but I doubt he made it to the pasture.
In total, there were 6 bulls killed (3 matadors get 2 bulls each--though this day 1 matador had 3 bulls, because of the injury of the other matador) and 2 released because of the injuries sustained, by my least favourite people---the horse riding stabbers.
We spent a much less bloody day wandering through the Royal Palace of Madrid
and the Plaza de Espana
We also ran into some friends we met in Barcelona and joined them for some Gregorian Chanting for the holy week celebrations. The funniest part was watching the Spanish fight over it. They rushed the doors...and then fought over seats when inside. We stayed for about 45 minutes, and left (to let others come inside).
We then spent our last night in Madrid drinking and eating with our new friends (Tina is from Vancouver, and her fiance Connon from New Zealand.)
We're now going to spend a few hours in the sun before we catch our overnight train to Portugal's capital, Lisbon.
We found black swans??? in the Park Retiro after getting some sun
We saw the crystal palace
and a ton of people rowing their way around a lake (a Canadian pond)
We also took in the Spanish tradition that is a bull fight. NOTE: it's not a pretty thing...the bulls die!
The crowds poured in on Sunday to watch the weekly bull fight at Madrid's Las Ventas Bull ring.
You can get seats in the sun or the shade. the sun is cheaper, so it's packed (and it's where we got our seats). Note how close we are to the people behind us. The woman in front of me was literally between my legs.
The show starts with all the participants coming across the ring to salute the box set aside for the king/diplomat present.
A sign announces the bull/matador that will fight (no English explanations, leaves much to ponder)
The bull is released and the matadors friends use their pink capes to test the bull and see which side it favours and how agressive it is.
Then a man on a horse (poor horse) comes out to stab the bull. The whole point is for these people to stab the neck muscles of the bull so that his head hangs low and he's lost blood, and therefore is not as rowdy when the matador comes out--fair? not really.
Until 1930 the horses did not have any protection and more horses died than bulls. Now the horse wears a long thick blanket around his body.
Then 2 guys come out and stick ruffled needles into the bull's neck. They want to get as close to the horse-man's wound as possible.
The needles are hooked, so that they don't fall out.
then after the bull has been sufficiently wounded, the matador comes out with his red cape and shows his skill. When the bull goes beneath his cape it is an Ole. He also shows off by getting as close to the bull as he can, and by turning his back on the bull to show his mastery of the 'beast'.
The first bull we saw was a fighter. In fact, he fought his horn right through the left thigh of the matador. The crowd gasped, while the matador was flung and tramped.
His buddies came out to rescue him and carry him off, but this matador was pissed. From the nosebleed section that was our seating, we heard a loud grunt, as he threw off his amigos and stormed back into the ring, getting a new cape...and the new sword...the sword of death.
note the turniquet on his leg
After killing the bull, the crowd waved white hankies to recognize the injury sustained by the matador.
the men in green were left to clean up the mess after the bull is dragged (literally) out of the ring.
The next bull actually knocked the horse riding stabber off of his horse. This bull did not fair well though, because the horse riding stabber got his revenge, and the bull was no longer able to charge and remain on his front feet. Because it wouldn't be a fair fight, cows were let into the ring to help herd the bull out. He didn't die in the ring, but I doubt he made it to the pasture.
In total, there were 6 bulls killed (3 matadors get 2 bulls each--though this day 1 matador had 3 bulls, because of the injury of the other matador) and 2 released because of the injuries sustained, by my least favourite people---the horse riding stabbers.
We spent a much less bloody day wandering through the Royal Palace of Madrid
and the Plaza de Espana
We also ran into some friends we met in Barcelona and joined them for some Gregorian Chanting for the holy week celebrations. The funniest part was watching the Spanish fight over it. They rushed the doors...and then fought over seats when inside. We stayed for about 45 minutes, and left (to let others come inside).
We then spent our last night in Madrid drinking and eating with our new friends (Tina is from Vancouver, and her fiance Connon from New Zealand.)We're now going to spend a few hours in the sun before we catch our overnight train to Portugal's capital, Lisbon.
2 comments:
How you were able to sit through a bull fight I'll never know. I can not fathom the reasoning behind this event, when the bull is already injured.
Well glad to see that you are having a good time. That chocolate looked great.
Love and miss you both
Mom
When you go to Portugal try to see a bull fight there. Big difference with Spain , the bull is not killed and always leaves the arena on his own feet.
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